A fire at a chemical factory in southern India killed at least six people and injured 12, a government official said on Thursday, with more casualties feared in the second such accident this week.
Government officials provided images of Wednesday's massive blaze at the factory in the state of Andhra Pradesh.
"There is a possibility of casualties increasing," V. Prasanna Venkatesh, administrative chief of the surrounding district of Eluru, told Reuters.
"Chemical processing was being done (in the unit) and gas cylinders were stored there."
The exact cause of the fire was not immediately clear but it could have been triggered when the cylinders burst for some reason, Venkatesh said, adding that authorities were investigating.
In the western state of Gujarat, a massive explosion at a chemicals plant killed six people this week.
Fatal fires in factories, hospitals and shopping complexes are common in India and often blamed on people flouting safety norms, as well as lax inspection by government officials.
The United Nations’ shipping agency on Thursday paused an evacuation effort to get hundreds of stranded ships and thousands of seafarers out through the Strait of Hormuz after a vessel was attacked in the Gulf of Oman.
At least 164 people were confirmed dead on Thursday after two powerful earthquakes wreaked havoc in and around Venezuela's capital Caracas, trapping people beneath the rubble of collapsed buildings and setting off powerful aftershocks.
The city mayor told busy Parisians to slow down on Thursday as large parts of Western Europe remained in the grip of a deadly heatwave that has claimed dozens of lives, disrupted power supplies, and shut schools and cultural landmarks.
President Donald Trump's administration has asked the US Congress on Wednesday for $87.6 billion in additional funding, most of it related to the Iran war, setting the stage for another fight with lawmakers already frustrated with the conflict.
An earthquake of magnitude 6.9 has struck Japan's northeast coast on Thursday, but no tsunami warning was issued, no injuries were immediately reported and no irregularities were found at nuclear facilities, the authorities said.
Enjoy your favourite music back to back commercial free, tune in to the Music Mix everyday from 1 until 2 for the music you love and the news updates you need
Apple Inc. shares fell Monday after a closely followed analyst warned that demand for the firm’s new iPhone 16 Pro model has been lower than expected. Is this a sign that the AI software just isn’t ready?
Dubai’s current population is more than double compared to almost twenty years ago, which now stands at 3.7 million. Lots of families are also moving to the UAE now. So what does it mean for the property market?